August 23 is the 235th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (236th in leap years), with 130 days remaining.

Events

1300-1899

• 1305 - William Wallace was executed.
• 1328 - Battle of Kassel : French troops stop an uprising of Flemish farmers
• 1566 - Calvinists are granted rights in the Netherlands
• 1614 - The University of Groningen is established
• 1617 - In London, the first one-way street is established
• 1651 - Charles II of England enters Battle of Worcester and starts a battle.
• 1784 - Eastern Tennessee declares itself an independent state under the name of Franklin; the step is rejected by Congress one year later
• 1798 - Napoleon leaves Egypt for France en route to seize power
• 1821 - Mexico gains its independence from Spain
• 1833 - Slavery abolished in the British colonies
• 1839 - The UK captures Hong Kong
• 1864 - The Union Navy captures Fort Morgan, Alabama, thus breaking Confederate dominance of all ports on the Gulf of Mexico
• 1866 - Austro-Prussian War ends with the Treaty of Prague
• 1889 - First wireless message from a ship to the shore received.

1900-1999

• 1904 - The automobile tire chain is patented.
• 1914 - Japan declares war on Germany and bombs Qingdao, China.
• 1924 - The distance between Earth and Mars is the smallest since the 10th century.
• 1927 - Italian anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti are executed in Boston, Massachusetts.
• 1939 - Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In a secret addition to the pact, Baltic states, Finland and Poland are divided between the two nations.
• 1940 - The Germans start bombing London.
• 1942 - Beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad
• 1943 - Kharkov liberated.
• 1944 - Marseilles liberated.
• 1944 - King Michael of Romania dismisses the pro-Nazi government of General Antonescu. Romania switches sides from the Axis to the Allies.
• 1944 - United States Air Force B-24 Liberator bomber crashed into a school in Freckleton , England killing 61 people.
• 1947 - The Maynard Midgets beat Lock Haven 16-7 to win the first-ever Little League World Series championship.
• 1948 - World Council of Churches is formed.
• 1952 - The Arab League goes into effect.
• 1958 - Chinese Civil War: The Second Taiwan Strait crisis begins with the People's Liberation Army's bombardment of Quemoy.
• 1960 - In Equatorial Guinea, the world's largest frog (3.3 kg) is caught.
• 1962 - First live television connection between the United States and Europe, via the Telstar satellite.
• 1966 - Lunar Orbiter 1 takes the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon.
• 1973 - The Intelsat communication satellite is launched.
• 1975 - Successful Communist coup in Laos
• 1976 - A major earthquake in China kills thousands of people.
• 1979 - Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov defects to the United States.
• 1985 - Hans Tiedge , top counter-spy of West Germany, defects to East Germany.
• 1987 - Heavy rains and floods in Bangladesh kill hundreds of victims.
• 1989 - Singing Revolution: two million people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania stand on the Vilnius-Tallinn road, holding hands (Baltic Way ).
• 1990 - Saddam Hussein appears on Iraqi state television with a number of Western "guests" (actually hostages to try to prevent the Gulf War).
• 1990 - Armenia declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
• 1990 - West Germany and East Germany announce that they will unite on October 3.
• 1992 - Hurricane Andrew hits South Florida.

2000-2099

• 2000 - A Gulf Air Airbus A320 crashes into the Persian Gulf near Manama, Bahrain killing 143
• 2000 - Nicaragua becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.

Births

600-1899

• 686 - Charles Martel, victorious general in the Battle of Tours, grandfather of Charlemagne (d. 741)
• 1754 - King Louis XVI of France (d. 1792)
• 1769 - Georges Cuvier, biologist, statesman
• 1783 - William Tierney Clark, civil engineer (d. 1852)
• 1785 - Oliver Hazard Perry, US naval officer (Battle of Lake Erie)
• 1829 - Moritz Cantor, mathematician
• 1847 - Sarah Frances Whiting, physicist and astronomer (d. 1927)
• 1849 - William Ernest Henley, British poet, critic and editor (d. 1903)
• 1852 - Arnold Toynbee, economist, social reformer
• 1864 - Eleftherios Venizalos, prime minister of Greece (1910-1915, 1928-1932)
• 1869 - Edgar Lee Masters, author (d. 1950)
• 1875 - William Eccles, radio pioneer
• 1883 - US General Jonathan Wainwright, Medal of Honor recipient
• 1884 - Will Cuppy, humorist (d. 1949)

1900-1999

• 1900 - Ernst Krenek, composer (d. 1991)
• 1901 - John Sherman Cooper, Senator from Kentucky (d. 1991)
• 1903 - William Primrose, Scottish violist (d. 1982)
• 1905 - Constant Lambert, composer (d. 1951)
• 1912 - Gene Kelly, dancer, actor (d. 1996)
• 1914 - Harold Truscott , composer (d. 1992)
• 1917 - Tex Williams, singer
• 1921 - Eadie Del Rubio (d. 1996), Elena Del Rubio (d. 2001), and Milly Del Rubio , the Del Rubio Triplets, singers, musicians, actresses
• 1922 - George Kell, Baseball Hall of Famer
• 1923 - Edgar F. Codd, founder of theory of relational databases
• 1924 - Ephraim Kishon, Israeli writer
• 1927 - Houari Boumendienne , president of Algeria (1965-1978)
• 1927 - Dick Bruna, illustrator
• 1929 - Vera Miles, actress
• 1929 - Peter Thompson , golfer
• 1930 - Michel Rocard, Prime Minister of France
• 1932 - Mark Russell, comedian, musician, political commentator
• 1933 - Pete Wilson, governor of California
• 1934 - Barbara Eden, actress
• 1934 - Sonny Jurgensen, professional football player
• 1936 - Henry Lee Lucas, serial killer(† 2001)
• 1943 - Nelson DeMille, novelist
• 1947 - Keith Moon, singer, drummer (The Who) (d. 1978)
• 1949 - Shelley Long, actress
• 1949 - Rick Springfield, singer, actor
• 1951 - Queen Noor of Jordan
• 1951 - Akhmad Kadyrov, President of Chechnya (d. 2004)
• 1952 - Vicky Leandros, singer, Eurovision Song Contest winner
• 1963 - Kenny Wallace, NASCAR race car driver
• 1966 - Rik Smits, professional basketball player
• 1970 - Jay Mohr, actor, comedian
• 1970 - River Phoenix, actor (d. 1993)
• 1972 - Dave Chappelle, actor, comedian
• 1974 - Ray Park, British actor
• 1975 - Eliza Carthy, singer, fiddle player
• 1978 - Kobe Bryant, NBA basketball player
• 1978 - Julian Casablancas, musician
• 1981 - Eric Radloff, singer, songwriter
• 1986 - Neil Cicierega, musician, inventor of Animutation

Deaths

1-1899

• 93 - Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Roman governor of Britain (b. 40)
• 634 - Abu Bakr, Muslim Caliph
• 1305 - William Wallace, Scottish patriot
• 1723 - Increase Mather, New England Puritan minister (b. 1639)
• 1618 - Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero, Dutch poet and playwright (b. 1585)
• 1806 - Charles Augustin de Coulomb, French physicist (b. 1736)
• 1813 - Alexander Wilson, ornithologist (b. 1766)

1900-1999

• 1926 - Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor (b. 1895)
• 1927 - Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, anarchists (executed)
• 1937 - Albert Roussel, French composer (b. 1869)
• 1960 - Oscar Hammerstein II, American lyricist (b. 1895)
• 1962 - Walter Anderson, German folklorist (b. 1885)
• 1962 - Hoot Gibson, American actor (b. 1892)
• 1965 - John Bata , shoe manufacturer
• 1966 - Francis X. Bushman, American actor (b. 1883)
• 1982 - Stanford Moore, American biochemist (b. 1913)

2000-2099

• 2001 - Peter Maas , novelist
• 2002 - Hoyt Wilhelm, Baseball Hall of Fame member
• 2003 - Imperio Argentina, Spanish singer and actress
• 2003 - Bobby Bonds, Major League baseball player
• 2003 - Jack Dyer, Australian rules football legend
• 2003 - John Geoghan, defrocked pedophile priest

Holidays and observances

• Romania: Liberation Day (1944)
• Swaziland: Umhlanga Day
• Roman Empire: Vulcanalia

External links

• BBC: On This Day

August 22 - August 24 - July 23 - September 23 -- listing of all days